Taking on grand responsibilities

Eleanor Glover said she obtained custody of her granddaughter, Brittany, because the child wasn’t getting proper care at home and was in danger of getting sucked into the foster care system.

“I don’t think my daughter was ready to be a parent and dealing with a lot of the issues that come up,” said Glover, of Wilkes-Barre.

Though 50-year-old Glover wouldn’t have it any other way, raising a 3-year-old is emotionally and financially draining.

That’s why she welcomed Friday’s conference: “Raising Grandchildren: Navigating the Services & Resources.” Hosted by the Northeastern Pennsylvania Intergenerational Coalition, the conference featured lectures and breakout sessions about child development, custody, domestic relations and the criminal justice system.

Coalition Chairman Howard Grossman said roughly one-third of the 300 audience members were grandparent caregivers.

State Sen. Raphael Musto, D-Pittston Township, told the group that almost 50 percent of the grandparents in Luzerne County are responsible for their grandchildren’s basic needs. More than 165,000 grandparents statewide take on a parenting role, he said.

These caregivers need help because they face their own limitations and must cope with parenting in a world that has changed since they raised their children, he said.

The number continues to grow nationwide because of HIV/AIDS, incarceration, poverty, mental health illnesses and increases in parental substance abuse, said Ivonne Gutierrez Bucher, chief of staff for the Pennsylvania Department of Aging.

She stressed to the group that it’s not just a problem experienced by low-income minorities in urban areas. An estimated 41 percent of the grandparent caregivers live in suburbs, she said.

The task is even more challenging because the displaced grandchildren usually carry “baggage,” said Tina Light, one of the founders of Grandparents United DE.

Light, a 64-year-old widow raising grandchildren ages 11 and 6, said she found it hard to take on the role at first because she had to admit that her family was dysfunctional.

“But I realized that many families have dysfunction, and they just don’t admit it,” she said.

Glover, who was on the conference planning committee, said money is her main struggle. She relies on Social Security and receives about $200 per month from the county for child care needs. “If she was in foster care, they’d pay $22 per day,” she said, adding that she has been unsuccessful getting her daughter to pay child support.

Glover said she’s struggling to deal with her granddaughter’s behavior problems, which doctors believe may stem from Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

“I want her to know someone loves her,” Glover said. “These mothers go out and have babies that they don’t want to take care of, but the babies didn’t ask for this.”

FOR MORE INFO:

Contact Georgia Salazar at 819-0814 at Second Time Around Support Group. Information about support services is available at www.raisingourgrandchildren.org.

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State. Sen. Musto says almost 50 percent of grandparents in county are responsible for grandchildren.

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